On Wall Street, the broader based S&P 500 is up just over three at 2,446, while the tech heavy Nasdaq was down 0.01 at 6,261. The NASDAQ rose 51 points (0.85 percent) and the Standard & Poors 500 ticked up 17 points (0.7 percent).

The US economy grew at a "slight to moderate" pace over the last several weeks across all regions of the country, with wage pressures reported for both low- and high-skilled jobs, the Federal Reserve reported yesterday in its latest compendium of regional economic activity.

Oil stumbled after settling higher overnight. Moreover, energy shares continued to move north due to increase in oil prices as EIA reported a weekly decline in USA crude stockpiles.

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Oil prices, which generally affect sentiment in the Gulf region, were also relatively stable, with Brent crude futures rising 1 cent to $47.75 a barrel, while US crude was unchanged at $45.49. This had offset higher levels of production noted in an International Energy Agency report. A total of around 6.1 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, much lower than the last 20-session average of 6.9 billion shares.

"After all, Yellen's comment capped gains in the Japanese market as value stocks such as banks and autos weakened", said Takuya Takahashi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities. Results of the strike will be known after the market close.

Gold was steady at $1,216.58 an ounce, heading for a 0.3% gain for the week.

Among stocks, Target rose 4.5 percent after the retailer gave an upbeat second-quarter forecast. Year-on-year CPI has been softening steadily since February, when it hit 2.7 percent.

The dollar inched higher against the Singapore dollar to trade at S$1.3742 at 8:15 a.m. HK/SIN following the news compared to levels around the S$1.3738 seen before. China's trade surplus grew to $42.77 billion in June as exports to the United States and the European Union grew by 19.9% and 15.2% from a year earlier. Inflation was flat, while a reading of retail sales slumped, emphasizing persistent weakness in that sector and underlining consumer reluctance to spend freely.